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Ratings & Reviews for

Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism

Barb Cook (editor), Lisa Morgan (Foreword), Jen Elcheson (Contributor)

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5 stars

252 (36%)

4 stars

249 (35%)

3 stars

143 (20%)

2 stars

38 (5%)

1 star

13 (1%)

Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews

Laura

187 reviews

May 15, 2020

This book contains lots of very insightful personal accounts from Women who are living with autism and were diagnosed latter in life and the affect it had on them.
What I really had a hard time with was how each account was followed up by a doctors review and their "professional" understanding of each story. It comes off as extremely condescending to have the women's accounts re-explained by assumed neurotypicals, and those in a position of power. It often felt like they were examining the women under a microscope as if to be dissected, instead of respecting them as individuals.

Its a book that is written for neurotypicals and once again highlighting the voice of the neurotypical doctors on the autistic experience, instead of simply allowing the various authors experiences to respectfully stand alone. At times the doctors reviews felt overly simplified and infantile. Plus some of the terminology used to describe the women is extremely outdated.

Lona

235 reviews15 followers

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April 1, 2021

The essays were interesting, but they read like they were written for neurotypicals to understand what autism is. They were also all written by white cis women. There was a slight mention of the lack of help for autistic people of colour but it was 1-2 little passages.

Positive feedback: Since I saw myself in almost every chapter reading this book backed up my desicion to find out if there is an overlap, after my ADHD test in 2 months, so this was kinda helpful. In regards of the autistic traits, struggles and thoughts the essays were good, I resonated a lot with them.

What I did not like were most statements about gender specific topics, here and there it was mentioned that "women tend to be more XYZ" without clarifying that this is not because of differences in the brains of men and women but because of socialisation. Also Baron-Cohen was quoted, his wikipedia page says:

Autism research
In 1997 Baron-Cohen developed the "empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory" which states that humans may be classified on the basis of their scores along two dimensions (empathizing and systemizing). The E-S theory argues that typical females on average score higher on empathizing relative to systemizing (they are more likely to have a brain of Type E), and typical males on average score higher on systemizing relative to empathizing (they are more likely to have a brain of Type S). Autistic people are predicted to score as an extreme of the typical male (they are more likely to have a brain of Type S or extreme Type S

Today we know that there's more solid science to debunk the myth of the male and female brain (I recommend reading some Gina Rippon here) than to back it up. Confusing was, that in some essays the authors wrote about how women are typically XYZ, but they don't feel like they have a "male brain", so it's kinda sad that Baron-Cohens theory is seemingly the most known among the authors of this book, who seemed annoyed by the stereotyping themselves.

There was one passage about gender dysphoria though, and it was even said that "a common therapeutic resolution for girls on the spectrum is to consider themselfes gender-neutral, or non-binary" and that gender confirming surgery also can be the solution in many cases - the phrasing of the quoted sentence is unfortunate in many ways, but given that many neurodivergent people are nonbinary I'm glad that this was at least mentioned once. It was not part of the essay though, but part of one of the comments by the neurogoloist who commented after every chapter (this one was about self care if I remember it right).

Now people may say "this is a book about autism and not about gender issues" and they may be right, but intersectionality is so important and the lack thereof is a big disadvantage in this book. Also gender was a big topic in here, especially that many of the women did not feel like the clichés about women applied to them, so there could've been at least one whole essay about this topic, but to be honest, the cis only selection felt intentional.

Anyway, if anyone needs a recommendation with PoC voices and without the whole talk about male and female brains "Stim: An Autistic Anthology" by Lizzie Huxley-Jones would be my recommendation.

Zoha

206 reviews77 followers

July 21, 2022

DNF-ing at page 61.

“Liane very clearly describes the reasons for this vulnerability:
• Individuals on the autism spectrum are not neurologically “wired” to read the intentions of others.
• They may not recognize abuse because of their tendency for literal thinking and self-blame.
• Their inner fears of rejection and/or low self-esteem can lead to an acceptance of certain levels of abuse.
• Their innate social confusion and intricate analysis of social situations can lead to poor judgment and decision-making.
• Their natural tendency to believe in the honesty and innocence of other people can lead to naiveté and vulnerability.
• Perpetrators recognize that the person is unlikely to tell others about the abuse because of their high levels of anxiety and lack of assertiveness skills.”

This is an excerpt from Spectrum Women, provided by a therapist who shows up to validate each essay in this anthology by 'sciencing' it up. She gives it legitimacy by dressing it up in psychiatric language. It wouldn't make me grit my teeth quite so much if she wasn't constantly using the medical model of disability (acting like it's a problem because the person 'lacks' what should be naturally present, like when she says autistic brains aren't neurologically 'wired' to understand social cues), infantilizing language ('remind her of her compassionate heart!'), encouraging certain things with no caveats or nuance (such as getting a diagnosis as early as possible without acknowledging how much eugenics benefits from this sort of stuff going permanently on your medical records because then it can track you, the way it's done again and again for centuries).

I'm grateful for the super specific details in the essay that'll make everyone go ''that's me!" but all this book offers is the warm, cozy, comforting feeling of relatability. This is unbelievably watered down because it's all written for neurotypical, non-autistic people, despite what the blurb says. I'm profoundly uncomfortable with the therapist chiming in at the end of the chapter and using her authority to push anti-disability rhetoric, legitimized by her credentials. She passes off the subtly violent psychiatric ideology as fact, acting like masking is some privilege instead of an immensely destructive survival strategy that an autistic person is forced to resort to because the society is so brutal to them.

This book promotes assimilationist thinking, especially by the therapist who sees successful assimilation as a sign of intelligence in Jen's story, always giving advice on how to help autistic children adapt to society's demands even more. She praises the survival strategy. This book will seem inoffensive to those who have only known the disability rights framework and never read critique of it. For an introduction, I'd recommend Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. Under disability justice, you don't seek accommodation in an NT world (the way you do with disability rights). In fact, NT norms are interrogated as harmful to everyone, including NT people, instead of adapted to. Disability justice seeks liberation by reimagining and decolonizing the world.

Dr. Michelle Garnett person believes in 'theory of mind' stuff. She thinks autistic people struggle with self reflection. She offers absolutely no historical or sociological understanding to critically evaluate the stuff she peddles. Jesse Meadows, a writer who produces brilliant critical work on the spectrum, has pointed out in this newsletter entry (https://sluggish.substack.com/p/would...) how DSM symptoms of ADHD and autism are symptoms of distress. The newsletter explores how the ADHD diagnosis was formulated after the boom in suffocating controlling classroom environments that desired functionality. She only distributes psychological data without contextualizing it or being critical of that knowledge formation, because she is not interested in decolonizing her info in any way (I just know Foucault and Said are dying a second slow death).

This book isn't actually dated, because it was always focused on making autism palatable, both back then and now. All info and research becomes dated so I don’t want to make that asinine complaint. In fact, I'd rather point out that this book was never interested in being radical or saying something new. It just compiled fluff into essays and sold it as a feel-good guide. Literature like this shows the limits of the emphasis on 'lived experience' alone as expertise because all people do not critically evaluate their lived experience or the frameworks they use to understand them. Most of these writers explain their autism as a lifestyle quirk. They’re not bound up in any disability justice organisations or theory or thinking so they embrace the diagnosis wholeheartedly, even though it’s badly formulated by a very unfriendly psychiatric industry, and don't challenge its constitution, don't use it as a place to imagine a new world, don't add their own input. Each writer has a very individualistic and shallow approach with no evaluation of race, gender or class so far. As far as I can tell, they're all cis white middle-class women, which fits, because this is the most boring respectability-obsessed text I've read on autism yet.

Therefore, the stories are mainly about respectable women facing individual lifestyle problems instead of rigorous structural discrimination. They lack nuance, with a girlboss go-getter tone. They're short and shallow.

It takes until chapter 4 for someone to be slightly self reflexive about their identity, to acknowledge how their identity and lived experience has informed their experiences and ideas of autism. My methodology is informed by training in critical theory and the lack of it really shows here. Nobody is evaluating their claims, biases or work. Nobody is situated in a disability context that holds them accountable for the ideas they have and propagate to the world. This book is on multiple websites as some landmark of autistic literature. The fact that these websites often praise Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (I will throw a party the day it goes out of print) is all the explanation you need. Granted, the landscape of autism lit is dismal because the autists aren't usually allowed to write about themselves but when they are, why does the most thoughtless take rise to the occasion?

When something is rich with meaning, it’s also complex. There are conflicting interpretations and rapidly changing definitions because everyone gets to have a stake. Rooting yourself in community means you get exposed to different perspectives. You learn the pros, cons and origins of each idea, making you good at historicizing developments. That’s what I love about autism: its variety. But publishing rarely tackles any complex part of it. We’re given nothing to chew on or mull over except a nice cozy feeling of relatability.

This book is focused on helping autistics adapt and not so much on helping them understand how silly the norms they work within are when you can do both. NTs don’t get along with each other better because of empathy. Their sameness allows them to lack compassion and curiosity for each other so they stay together in miserable relationships because of similarity, not thoughtfulness or empathy. They don't feel each other's feelings, only their own. Their friendships are also often destructive, shallow or okay with frequent betrayal. All I saw before DNF-ing was some useful advice and clarification of interpersonal concepts in the friendships chapter but the rest of it was an assortment of chapters from badly written memoirs (because most of the people writing weren't good writers or storytellers).

Robin

110 reviews7 followers

July 3, 2018

I came to an Autism diagnosis in my early 20s. It's fairly typical for girls and women to go undiagnosed for years and only recently has this begun to be reflected in publishing. I'm happy to see another book on the struggles Autistic girls and women face in life. This collection of essays examines a lot of the issues and struggles we all face and how being Autistic can be both a struggle and a benefit in modern society.

Hunter

9 reviews

January 31, 2022

I wish I could have read this as a teenager. My only critique is the collection of contributors lacking in diversity. Spectrum women should be for all spectrum women, and we really miss out on something very important when we do not also include the voices of autistic women of color.

Dia

149 reviews

July 4, 2019

I am very happy that I came across this book. I have a teenage daughter with autism and what I learned in this book will help both of us as we try to figure out how autism works for her.

The book is written in essay form by multiple women, many who found out in their 30s-50s that they had autism. Each take a topic or 2 and discuss how it affects their life, the lives of others and what they have learned through research and education. These women are leaders and advocates for autism either in their communities or world wide.

Each chapter addresses a topic. At the end of a chapter Dr. Michelle Garnett gives her thoughts on the topic from the education and experiance if a clinical psychologist who runs a clinic for those with autism.

There were a couple opinions/ approaches that I didn't agree with but over all this is an eye opening, interesting, well written book.

Fern Underground

2 reviews7 followers

January 3, 2020

i liked the confessional tone and personal insights but i missed more quantitative data. i know that wasn’t the point, but the personal accounts of the “condition” were sometimes a bit alienating. at the same time, knowing these women are on the spectrum gave me perspective into how idiosyncratic autistic girls can be. it did inspire me to think about my own journey in the terms established by the book. i did at times think wow i’d like to have coffee with this woman even if it is to disagree with them! anyway a good book if you’re beginning to explore the aspie/autistic world as a woman/girl. but i could’ve used more reaching out and more general thoughts on the subject.

WallofText

691 reviews4 followers

March 15, 2024

I had high hopes for this book but aside from varyingly enjoying the different contributor's' writing, my main issue is Doctor Garnett. The amount of subtle to blatant transphobia from her as well as very narrow advice (like saying everyone should get an autism diagnosis without informing about the global disparities and potential negative healthcare, immigration etc. outcomes) is wild. Here is a list of the most agregious examples, all from Dr Garnett:

-Listing gender dysphoria as a diagnosis that can lead adolescent girls down the pathway of an autism diagnosis without mentioning cis or trans context (p.30)

-"across the genders" only in reference to girls and boys (p.31)

- "I have found that a common therapeutic resolution for girls in the spectrum is to consider themselves gender-neutral or non-binary" (p. 251)

-"Equally, for some girls and women, gender reassignment surgery is a serious consideration and may end much suffering, also placing them firmly on a pathway to authenticity of self-expression and meaning in life." (p.252)

Like what the hell

Marie B.

125 reviews4 followers

December 8, 2022

Mixed feelings. Some parts were very relatable. But I couldn't really get over the fact that it reads like a book written for NTs learning about autism for the most part. It's important, yes, but not what I was looking for.
Also I agree with people who pointed out that there was no need for the input of the doctor at the end of every chapter, basically repeating and "validating" what was just said. Kinda condescending.

read-in-2022

Ramona Tinga

471 reviews7 followers

May 14, 2023

4.5/5

A book was written by 15 adult autistic women? Hell yeah! I don’t think I know any autistic women over the age of 30, so it was great to be able to read many of their different experiences. They exist! I felt so much recognition in their stories. It made me emotional multiple times. It made me feel heard and welcomed into a community

The clinical perspective was a nice addition. The clinical expert added to the stories of the autistic women without making it feel like she knows more about autism than the autistic women themselves.

In the book, the authors also mention lots of research and other books that I would like to read. Nice!

The reason why I did not give this 5 stars is that the authors could have been more diverse. They were all written by white cisgender women.

Katey Flowers

378 reviews51 followers

September 4, 2023

DNF page 75

Despite being a collection of voices, all are low support needs, most identify as Aspergers, and most have made reference to autism not being a disability. All of which makes for a very limited set of experiences for an anthology. The chapter on gender and diversity was basically just about how she was a ‘tomboy’, while other chapters made reference to gender as a binary. The psychiatrist who chimes in at the end of each chapter seems to see assimilation as the ultimate goal for autistics. And finally, the nail in the coffin for me, in the chapter on personal relationships, the author says this:

“For individuals on the autism spectrum to entertain the idea of getting married, you must be realistic and be sure each person has quite a good level of independent functioning. Both should have a job.”

Ummm wtf is this ableist bs?! So an autistic person with support needs shouldn’t have intimate relationships? Someone who doesn’t or can’t work shouldn’t entertain the idea of marriage?! I rarely rate books I don’t finish, but I’m honestly appalled.

Heather

39 reviews

January 19, 2023

I appreciate the variety of voices and experiences brought to this book. Fifteen women reflect on their childhood and adult traits, noting things that set them apart from their peers, and ways they learned to adapt or cope with being different. Their stories and the information shared stirred up great compassion and understanding, both toward others and myself.

Morgan B

29 reviews2 followers

March 13, 2023

I really wanted to love this book but I didn't. I enjoyed the personal stories from Autistic women about their experiences and the book.. Many of those stories were written by people with both lived and professional expertise and it's a rare collection of lived experiences that centers women. The book included some great resources written by Autistic advocates and health professionals I'm excited to add to my reading list.

However, the book lacks a discussion of intersectionality and Autism - there is limited discussion of BIPOC, queer, disability, poor, and fat experiences which are missing from the experience of Autistic women. I don't know the identities of all the writers so there may have been more representation than I realize but in the absence of discussion of intersectional identities does a disservice to representation and the goal of collective liberation.

The book also had an allisplaining vibe because I did not appreciate. I was so excited for a book written by Autistic women speaking for themselves. Each narrative of personal experience (most of which are intertwined with additional professional expertise from someone both Autistic and an educator, health professional or researcher) is followed by a chapter from a professional perspective that is fairly broad information relating to themes of the narrative as if the lived experience requires allistic explanation rather than the richness of lived experience being able to stand alone for it's own truth and expertise. I would have preferred either no explanation from a "professional" perspective or one that was a rich synthesis of research, or a concrete guide to implementing tools. I really appreciate what the authors were trying to do with this book in highlighting experiences of women but I would like to see one that's more intersectional and designed in a way that honors the lived experiences as the stand alone Autistic expertise they are without requiring "professional" explanation.

neurodivergent

Leslie

45 reviews

October 12, 2018

While this book is an excellent resource for females on the spectrum and anyone who cares about them, I was frustrated by major differences in the depth to which each topic was explored. I also found it unsettling to have such a mix of different writing styles, even within the same chapter. I understand the rationale for this decision, but would have preferred the entire book to either take the more academic OR personal memoir tone, not be a complete jumble of both and everything in between.
The greatest benefits are the professional summary/overview at the end of each chapter and the extensive bibliography and resources list at the end. The final section of the last chapter is a tear-jerking ode to the pain of this longing and hope for a future as part of a wonderful network of amazing women.

Catherine

4 reviews

February 10, 2023

Found this book as newly late diagnosis women upsetting and it felt impersonal. There was clinical language that was depowering and disscusion on short life expectant and horrible outline of co morbidity had no consideration of a autistic audience or the impact of such facts
Dehumanising and but me feel worse and afraid about the future... not a joyful beat. Very basic , out side flat perspective with no deversity

Rebekah

312 reviews9 followers

October 8, 2021

From a very white and privileged perspective. I didn't finish it.

non-fiction nope

Radhika

45 reviews1 follower

July 12, 2021

This is a work of non-fiction I picked up on recommendation of spectrum women I have known in my personal life. This book marks a departure from my past readings where my selection would be based on qualifications and credentials of the author. This time I went in search of ‘lived experience’.
For quite some time, I have felt that higher education in mental health sorely lacks a social justice view. We enter the field armed with the toothpicks of antidepressants and are put out to battle the Goliaths of complex trauma, deprivation and systemic injustice. Our talking therapies are ableist, our vision distorted by ‘shoulds and shouldnts’ that we often deliver to the clients without regard to real life happening outside the therapy room. We presume the ability of therapies, rather than the abilities of clients. Our deficit-digging minds are every ready with pigeonholes of labels.
Reading the stories of these extraordinary women, I felt the renewed hope that ‘neurology’ only needs acknowledgement before it can be surpassed. Women have accomplished this over and over, their stories untold, their courage unsung.

Preslava

28 reviews2 followers

April 5, 2020

I knew very little about people on the Autism spectrum before reading this book, and even less about Spectrum women specifically. I learned a lot from this book and it encouraged me to read more on the topic. The writing style varies a lot and some chapters were a bit difficult to follow, but that's how books written by more than one author work, I guess. This book was partly not very readable, but if you're interested in the topic, it shouldn't annoy you too much.
It took me a while to finish it because I had to return it to the library and wait to reborrow it again. :)

non-fiction psychology read-in-english

Sarah Kaul Hoelgaard

15 reviews

March 4, 2023

When reading this book I had times where I reflected on myself and said this makes so much sense now. It is vital for autistic women to have this kind of representation in books especially when there is such a stigma around autism and gender bias towards men. I would have given this 5 stars since it was such a fulfilling book for me to read about my identity but I wish there was some queer and POC representation.

Megan

172 reviews

April 6, 2024

these books are so frustrating bc they give me so much insight but randomly they’ll be like “autistic girls aren’t like other girls… we don’t wear makeup and we hate shopping” and we’re just supposed to move on like that didn’t happen? plus the neurotypical doctor explaining at the end of each chapter felt quite problematic

Erin

299 reviews22 followers

April 16, 2024

Most books of essays I've read are of varying quality - some really good, some not so much. This is the first book of essays I've read that contains consistently well-written essays. The book flowed as if all the writers worked together to make a cohesive book. Definitely a must-read for any autistic woman!

neurodiversity

321 reviews8 followers

May 10, 2021

I finished it today but that also included a 2-week break while I waited for my own copy to come in the mail. I started reading the library copy but I related to so much of it that I needed my own copy. An awesome resource, especially for recently self-identified or diagnosed autistic women!

autism-neurodiversity non-fiction own

Mary Nolan-Fesmire

478 reviews19 followers

September 4, 2022

Very informative!

Abbie Smith

61 reviews

March 16, 2023

Really good insight into the lives of Autistic women. Very helpful information and advice and written from loads of different perspectives to give you a good overview of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Myfanwy

49 reviews

May 6, 2024

A bit too much patronising-adjacent energy for me

Andrea

166 reviews34 followers

December 30, 2019

It's interesting to read stories from successful autistic women and to have a glimpse into how they navigate their worlds. I wish they had shared a bit more about their struggles and how they overcame them, I felt like they skimmed over a lot of the ugly stuff and concentrated on their current state of success.

I did not appreciate the endings of each chapter, where a person who is not autistic comments on the different topics discussed, not from their perspective as a neurotypical human who has to deal with the same situations, but from the perspective of the "savior" who has to deal with the problems that arise from having to interact with autistic people.

Overall it's a good book, I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to know a bit more about what it's like to be autistic and a woman. It's not exceptional, but it's a beginning. I'll probably also dig into some the other books that the authors of this book wrote individually.

Beck

13 reviews

March 29, 2024

I’m shelving this to dnf around page 75. I can’t stand the transphobic undertones earlier from one author, and the doctor follow ups of each chapter are condescending af. I got to the part where an author describes that they are better at marriage than NT’s and it’s just so unhelpful and literally black and white thinking. Neurodiversity exists as a spectrum and attempts to put it as a binary of nd/nt are useless and counter productive to me. Like what a strange thing to say about marriage as a whole concept, and weirdly demonizing divorce. I will seek out another book that better highlights marginalized identity and it’s intersects with neurodiversity. This was painfully privileged and I agree with a lot of GR reviews describing it as written for an average neurotypical introduction. I’m still angry about the part that described being a tomboy as being “pathologized”these days. Talk about ignorant…wtf.

dnf

Bee

111 reviews15 followers

June 29, 2020

What a godsend. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this book. I am 19 and received my diagnosis last summer, which (I am very grateful to say) has been a very positive experience for me.
Reading this book made me feel heard, welcome and home.
Besides the huge emotional benefits of this book, it is also highly informative and extremely helpful in discussing topics I had not even considered I might need to consider (such as whether to disclose you diagnosis at work).
I strongly recommend it to women on the spectrum, as well as their close loved ones. Although really I believe everyone would benefit from reading

Oberst Ink

12 reviews

February 24, 2021

This was an interesting read. The women who share their stories about being on the spectrum were beautiful, but... I was half way through reading it when I realized the clinician wasn't supposed to be the villain. I've always had a certain amount of cynicism about shrinks, but their writing in this book took what could have been beautiful personal narratives, and instead puts people into these very sterile, off-putting boxes. If they would rewrite this book so it was just personal narratives, I think it would be much better.

Olga Santos da Silva

4 reviews

July 31, 2024

In a world where autism and spectrum traits are "male conditions" books like this are necessary to identify symptoms and signs in women (and girls) at an early stage, so they can ask for help and have a healthier and happier life.
Because it is an underdiagnosed condition in the female world, usually women live years and years of inner suffering without knowing what's going on with them, just feeling that they don't fit it.

Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews

Ratings & Reviews for

Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism

Barb Cook (editor), Lisa Morgan (Foreword), Jen Elcheson (Contributor)

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Ratings & Reviews for

Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism

Barb Cook (editor), Lisa Morgan (Foreword), Jen Elcheson (Contributor) ...more

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Barb Cook (editor), Lisa Morgan (Foreword), Jen Elcheson (Contributor)